


dinner was made for eating, not for talking

by marrieddorks



Series: stepbrothers 'verse [2]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Comedy, Eventual J2, M/M, Slow Burn, Step-siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-18 03:18:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18241307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marrieddorks/pseuds/marrieddorks
Summary: Jared and Chad go to dinner to meet Chad's new stepmom and her kids.





	dinner was made for eating, not for talking

**Author's Note:**

> i have no excuses for being the least prolific person ever other than life and a whole lot of anxiety re: writing. i'm trying very hard to be better, and i hope this brings back any excitement that ever existed for this fun little series i'm trying to write <3

His red tie was constricting around his neck, and it was almost enough to distract him from the sweat seeping through his button-down underneath the suit jacket that was every kind of too hot in July’s sweltering heat. But both of those things were minor nuisances in comparison to Chad’s droning that Jared had been enduring for the entire fifty-minute drive into Austin.

Scratch that -- those were minor nuisances in comparison to Chad’s droning that Jared had been enduring for the last week. 

Richard had been home since last Saturday, and that apparently wasn’t enough time for Chad to process the concept of ‘Richard Murray’ and ‘married’ in the same sentence. 

“-- I mean, do you know how awkward tonight is going to be? Having dinner with some twenty-five-year-old making gold digger eyes at my dad while he stares at her super-fake jugs?” Chad repeated one of his many fears for the three-hundredth time. 

“I thought we dropped the idea that she was twenty-five when your dad mentioned her having kids?” Jared reminded him, turning the car into a parking garage. Chad had a weird thing about valets (“I don’t trust anyone wearing a vest.” “Not all valets wear vests, Chad.”). 

“Don’t even get me started on the kids,” Chad groaned. “I don’t need snot-nosed babies running around my house, and I definitely don’t need my dad paying to raise some other dude’s kids.”

There was an echo in the concrete garage as the car doors slammed shut, but it was hard to pay attention to that noise when there were so many other noises inhabiting the world just outside. Even though they lived less than an hour from the city, they didn’t make it into the heart of Austin all that often. That was mostly because of Jared’s mom’s overprotectiveness, but they swore it would all change when they were both eighteen (“I can’t believe I’m turning eighteen a whole fucking year before you, Jared. Don’t expect me to wait around for you to turn twenty-one before I go get wasted legally.”). But right now, a trip to downtown Austin was a rarity, and spending it at The Driskill was even more of one. 

The Driskill looked like the kind of hotel that would open a movie about a rich kid who had known no other life than that of luxury. It was arched doorways and windows with intricately carved decoration all around on the outside, and the inside was Romanesque with its tall white pillars and glass-covered ceilings. The oldest hotel in Austin, The Driskill was not only one of the best-known buildings in all of Texas, it was also home to The Driskill Bar and Grill, one of Austin’s most sought out nighttime restaurants. Getting in on a Saturday night required three things: 1) a simple, yet efficient, plan 2) several weeks notice 3) money. Of course, when you were Richard Murray, you only needed number three. 

“This place is crazy,” Jared said with a sort of awe as they fell into the line.

“Nothing but the best for my dad’s wife of a whole two weeks,” Chad commented back with an eyeroll, leg bouncing where they stood.

“Nervous?”

“What?” Chad asked incredulously. “No. What do I have to be nervous about?” They moved up several places in line. 

“Um, I don’t know; there’s the fact that you’re getting ready to meet your dad’s new wife for the first time.”

“I’ve met plenty of his girlfriends over the years, this’ll be a breeze,” Chad said. 

“Yeah, exactly, Chad. You’ve met plenty of girlfriends, but he’s never gone off and married one of them.” They were next in line. “This is serious.”

“I give it six months, tops,” was Chad’s flippant reply and then they were at the front of the line. 

“Good evening, gentlemen,” the host greeted politely, but his eyes were blatant in their search for something of substance. By the look on his face, he wasn’t impressed by Chad’s spiked hair and loose tie or the sweat beading on Jared’s forehead. “How can I help you?”

“We’re here with Richard Murray,” Chad said with a comfortability of someone who had grown up saying this exact phrase. 

“Of course,” the host said, expression still unchanged. “Michael, would you please escort these two to table thirty-three, Mr. Murray’s table?”

The walk to the table exposed an upper-echelon of people and Saturday-night dwellers that they didn’t experience in a town like Georgetown. There were a few people that looked to be around Jared and Chad’s age, but most of the restaurant attendees were older and held themselves with a confidence of belonging. Jared couldn’t stop tugging at his tie, at the waist of his pants, at his sleeves during their entire walk across the red colored carpet. 

Richard Murray was sitting alone at a large rounded table with an elegantly draped gold tablecloth draped across it. He was fiddling, moving his silverware ever so slightly to the left, turning the watch on his wrist, twisting the ring on his finger. 

“She slip your wallet and make a run for it already?” Chad asked, no decency to wait until Michael had returned to the front of the restaurant. Jared elbowed him. 

“She and her daughter went to hang their jackets. She said she was also going to give her son a quick call because he had said he may be running a little late.” Chad took the seat to the left of his father, and Jared took the seat to the left of Chad, leaving three empty chairs sitting there in a daunting way. “Can you please have your best behavior on tonight?”

Usually, it was impossible to get Chad and his dad to have a serious conversation about anything. But at this moment, there was a kind of desperation in Richard’s question, the kind only given by parents in a make-or-break situation. 

“Yeah,” Chad answered after too long of a pause, and Richard’s shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch. “I’ll try. But if one of her kids calls you dad or calls me big bro, I’m out of here.”

“I don’t think --” Richard’s response was cut short by an approaching figure, and Chad and Jared turned to watch. 

She wasn’t overly tall or short, standing average at about 5’7”, maybe 5’9” in the heels she had on. Her dress was modest -- but obviously expensive; a shimmering beige with a high neckline and three-quarter-length sleeves. Jared and Chad didn’t know a whole lot about makeup, but she didn’t appear to have much on, just a touch of pink to her cheeks and lips. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled, falling just at her shoulders in loose waves. 

She was beautiful, and that was as expected. She was not, however, twenty-five. 

There were the finest of wrinkles by the corners of her eyes, prominent as she smiled at Richard with a fondness beyond their time together, and an aged-elegance in the way she held her body and the way she walked, one not found in fumbling twenty-somethings still learning everything about the world. There was also the fact that the girl walking by her side, her daughter as Richard had earlier stated, couldn’t be much younger than Chad and Jared. 

“What the fuck….?” Chad trailed, not-so-lightly hitting Jared’s arm. Rubbing absentmindedly at the place Chad hit, Jared couldn’t stop the laugh out of his throat or the wide grin on his face. 

“This changes everything,” he said, and he laughed a little harder at Chad’s slack-jawed expression. 

“Donna!” Richard started, pushing his chair back from the table to stand. 

“We didn’t get to properly say hello earlier,” Donna responded with that fond smile still in place. They reached for each other like they had reached for each other for the entirety of their lives. Their kiss was chaste and sweet, and beyond Chad’s unstoppable blanch at such a public display of affection, it settled a quiet tension in the room. 

“Chad,” Richard said, his hand sliding to the dip of Donna’s waist, pulling her close, “this is Donna. Donna, this is my son, Chad.” He waited for Chad to stand and Chad did so, if albeit slowly, still taking in the almost 180° of the situation from its expectations. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Donna,” Chad said. His voice was quieter than Jared had maybe ever heard it. 

“And this is Chad’s best friend, Jared….Jared, what are you doing here?” Richard asked, but he was smiling and shaking his head as though he has just processed Jared’s presence, nerves quieted some.

“I’m here to make Chad look good, sir,” Jared said, standing up to shake Donna’s hand. 

“Chad and Jared have known each other since they were on tricycles. You’ll be seeing a lot of him,” Richard explained.

“It’s so nice to meet you both,” Donna started. “This,” she motioned to the blonde girl at her side, “is my daughter, Mackenzie. My son is running a bit late, I’m afraid, but he’ll be joining us shortly.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Mackenzie said shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

They all took their seats, Richard stopping to pull out both Donna and Mackenzie’s chairs for them, and the waiter, David, greeted them and brought out waters for all. It was Donna who made a noise first, a happy sigh as she folded her napkin over her lap, hands smoothing out its wrinkles and her eyes never leaving Richard. 

“This seems unreal,” she finally said. Her eyes looked up at the room, the blue of them glittering as they flitted around the sparkling lights above. 

“It really does,” Richard agreed, and his tone matched her own when he spoke. 

“Mr. Murray, I was wondering if you could tell the story.” It was Mackenzie’s quiet voice that was speaking out and her fingers were still shyly wrapped around her long bangs. 

“Please, call me Richard, Mackenzie. I don’t want us to start off with formalities. But what story are you talking about?”

“The story of how you met my mom,” she said, smile more real. “She’s told me already and it’s the cutest story I’ve ever heard, but I want to hear your version of it too.”

“Mackenzie.” Donna’s cheeks were flushed and it emphasized a loveliness about her. “Richard doesn’t want --”

“I would love to tell her that story,” Richard disagreed. He grabbed Donna’s hand and held it in his own. “It was the third day of the cruise and this was the first big event that wasn’t just a general welcome. It was a cocktail hour, and the place was swarming with attorneys everywhere. Basically the egocentrism was through the roof.” Donna laughed and Richard looked at her, his eyes telling more than anything else. “And I was talking to an attorney from Georgia, a Mr. Pierre, when I heard that exact laugh across the room. After that it all happened so fast.”

Jared heard Chad’s scoff. “No kidding.”

“Oh, stop that Richard,” Donna started. Her face was still red. “That’s not how it happened at all.”

“How did it happen then?”

“I was helping set up for the M.R. Exhibition in the main ballroom and you and Kurt wandered in because you thought it was spa,” Donna said and a fit of laughter was already bubbling out.

“That’s right!” said Richard before continuing the story. “We thought it was the spa, you told us that the spa was further down, and I asked if you would come be my masseuse. The cocktail hour was later that night.” He kissed her hand that was still held in his own. “But it was your laugh that got me the most.” 

“My dad said you were calling your son earlier,” Chad interjected, and the words drew all attention to him and away from the heaviness of uncomfortable intimacy. 

“Yes, I wanted to give my youngest son a call so I could check up on him, see when he thought he’d get here,” Donna said. Chad shakily sat his water down.

“Youngest son?” he asked for clarification, eyes darting to Jared who was on the verge of falling into an inappropriately loud fit of laughter at Chad’s continued freakout. 

“I have two sons,” Donna said. “Josh, my oldest, has long left the nest. But my other son, Jensen, is just a few years older than you. He’s joining us, but he got caught in traffic on his way here from Dallas. Quite a drive for just a dinner, but,” she paused for a moment, smile small and true, “he knows how important this is to me.”

“I do. I also couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see my beautiful mother and sister, could I?” a voice said from behind Donna and everyone turned or looked up at the figure who had approached quietly during the conversation. 

He was tall. Not as tall as Jared, but he was tall and slim, with a trim waist and broad shoulders where a perfectly tailored navy jacket pulled and accentuated the lightness of his almost too-green eyes. But even the green of his eyes couldn’t distract from the gold reflecting from his hair or the warmth of his smile or the smattering of freckles perfectly placed across the bridge of his nose. 

“Jensen!” Mackenzie squealed as she jumped to pull him by his shoulders into a bone-crushing hug. 

“Oh, darling, you made it,” Donna said. Her voice was filled with a motherly kind of relief, but her face was nothing short of blissful. “Everyone is here.”

“Well, everyone except Josh, but we only keep him around for his kids anyway,” Jensen said with a grin, leaning down to give Donna a peck on the cheek after he untangled Mackenzie from himself. 

“That’s not true,” Donna admonished with no heat.

“It’s kind of true,” Mackenzie said, and Jensen pulled her into another quick hug. 

“Jensen,” Richard started, standing up and brushing nothing off his pants. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

“You as well, sir. My mom has told me a little about you. All good, I promise,” Jensen replied back, and the two shook hands. 

“This is my son, Chad,” Richard said, kicking at Chad underneath the table to stand, “and his friend, Jared.”

“Nice to meet you guys. My mom told me you were starting at UTA this fall.” They all fell into their seats, Jensen sitting comfortably between Mackenzie and Jared. Jared swallowed the same time Chad shot his father a look. 

“Yeah,” he trailed, and Jared could see the wheels turning in Chad’s head, all trying to catch up with the situation. Jared could also see that the freckles on Jensen’s face extended over his cheekbones, too. “Business management and engineering,” he finished, jutting a thumb at Jared in regard to the “engineering” half of his answer. 

The conversations fell into different paths at that moment. Richard and Donna were unable to take their eyes off of one another, and their conversation was quiet and intimate amongst the noise of the restaurant and its patrons. Mackenzie fell on her phone as Jensen and Chad talked college, and Jared found himself too quiet in the middle, too scared to look at Jensen for more than a few seconds at a time. 

It wasn’t often that Jared was at a loss for words. Truth be told, he was a talkative guy and even moreso of one when he was nervous. He couldn’t count the number of times he had rambled about everything from the importance of the Fourier Transform to confessing his most embarrassing moment -- of which consisted of a rose bush, a pair of tattered Converse hightops, a pitcher of fresh lemonade, and a gardening hoe -- to complete strangers. But at this very moment, there was no word vomit trying to climb its way out of his throat. Instead it was sitting like acid on an empty stomach. 

“Wait, you already have your degree?”

Chad’s exclamation was loud enough to jolt Jared back to the present. Chad was wide-eyed and slack-jawed once again and Jensen’s laugh made that acid-on-an-empty-stomach feeling so intense Jared thought actual vomit as opposed to word vomit might climb out of his throat instead. 

“Just graduated in May,” Jensen answered. 

“God,” Chad muttered, and Jared could see it in his eyes that his breaking point had been met. His head fell into his hands, and Jensen’s laugh was so much more this time, his head falling back to expose the long line of his throat, and his eyes were closed, showcasing a trait he shared with Donna: crinkles by the outer corners. 

“I take it this news hasn’t been the easiest?” Jensen asked after a moment. His voice was quiet enough that Richard and Donna wouldn’t take notice of the conversation, but Jared mused that he doubted they would anyway with the way they were still staring at one another. 

“You could say that.”

“If it’s any consolation, Mackenzie and I are in the same boat. It’s been, uh, an unexpected turn of events.” Jensen was leaning in just a little, continuing to keep the conversation secluded in their corner. 

“At least you’re done with school and moving on with your life,” Chad started.

“Here we go.” Jared hadn’t meant to mutter.

“Oh, he speaks!” Jensen said with a grin, and he was looking right at Jared. 

“Yeah, dude, now you decide to join in? You couldn’t have said anything when I was literally dying ten minutes ago?”

“Sorry,” Jared managed to say before internally cringing. Had his voice always sounded like that? “I’ve never been taught how to deal with a meeting your best friend’s new stepmom and her kids situation.” 

He could totally do this. He could totally make conversation. And a normal conversation at that.

“Four years ago I would’ve said ten words and it would have been an accomplishment in my book. But now that you’re talking, you’ve got to explain “Here we go” because you sounded about eighty-years-old there. What’s the story?”

“Chad’s not shut up --”

“Yes, I have!”

“About his delicate ecosystem being disrupted by some twenty-five-year-old and her snot-nosed kids right as he’s getting ready to enter the prime of his life,” Jared explained. Chad groaned loudly. 

“Wait….is the prime of your life supposed to be college?” 

“According to Chad, yeah.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not sitting right here!” 

“Chad,” Richard admonished, his attention diverted from Donna for the first time since they had all arrived, “inside voice.” 

It was then that their waiter returned and conversations were halted as orders were made. Jared made a lot of observations as everyone ordered. One was that there was a single meal on this menu that cost as much as Jared’s family spent on food for the whole family when they went out. The second thing was that Donna’s allure was very apparent when she was talking and Jared found himself wondering if this really could be more than a spontaneous and over-the-top fling. The third thing was that Chad did, in fact, order that expensive single meal all for himself. The fourth and fifth things were about Jensen and the way he held his wine glass and the fact that he and Jared ordered the same exact meal.

There was an obvious relief of tension in the air that was hard to miss as well. Both Richard and Donna seemed more at ease with themselves and with each other now that this hadn’t yet blown up in their faces. Chad, despite his groaning, seemed relatively unfazed now that the situation was in front of him. Jared was sure he would get an earful on their drive back, but at least a scene hadn’t been made. 

Attentions were turned to Mackenzie while they waited for food. She shyly told Richard how she would miss her best friend, but how she didn’t really like anybody else at her school so a new one was exciting. She also attempted to explain Snapchat when she mentioned how they -- she and Madison -- would always have their Streak. 

“You got a boyfriend back home?” Richard asked and it was enough to turn Mackenzie’s ears pink. 

“No!” she exclaimed, and it was the most emotion they had seen from her since Jensen had arrived. “None of the boys at my old school are cute anyway.”

“I’m sure you’ll meet a nice fellow at your new school, darling,” Donna said. Then she gestured to Chad and Jared. “Just look how cute those two are! And they just graduated from the school you’re going to be attending.” 

“Mom, don’t traumatize them yet. You have to ease into that kind of public embarrassment,” Jensen told Donna, but his smile was wide and the perfect distraction to keep the rest of the conversation at bay just as their food arrived. 

Chad had eaten the last of the bread that had been sat at the table when they first got there so it was no surprise that the quiet of the table continued for several minutes as everyone began to eat. 

“When do classes start up for you, Jensen? Are they the same time as UTA?” Richard asked.

“Dad, Jensen is one of those lucky bastards who is already done with school,” Chad said around a mouthful of lobster tail. 

“You make it sound like he he has some sort of “in” on the whole college thing.” Jared knew he was using his fork to point. 

“I’m done with my B.S., but I’m nowhere near done with school,” Jensen started. 

“So you’re just willingly going back? Are you crazy?”

“It’s not that bad, Chad,” Richard huffed.

“Especially if you find that one thing you really love,” Donna offered helpfully.

“And I actually think St. Augustine’s classes don’t start until September. So about two weeks after UTA starts their classes.”

“What is it you’re going for again?”

“My DPT,” Jensen said. “Full-time, I can get it all done in about two and a half years, maybe three.”

“What’s a DPT?” Jared asked. Chad hit him in the leg. 

“A doctor of physical therapy, isn’t it exciting?” Donna answered instead, her eyes on Jensen and her voice full of pride. “And do you want to know the best part? UTA and St. Augustine are only about ten miles apart. You all could carpool!”

Chad’s laugh was nervous. “It might be inconvenient for Jensen here to try and carpool from his apartment.” 

Donna’s confused face made Chad even more nervous. 

“Chad, Jensen’s going to be living with us too.”


End file.
